Ford Fiesta ECOnetic: On the Drive – Claire’s Test Drive

In part 3 of our Fiesta ECOnetic Review Claire gives the Eco Ford a workout

Claire drives the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic Road Test / Review – Claire’s Drive

I like Fiestas. My daily drive is a year old Fiesta 1.25 Zetec , which is a fun car and suits me perfectly. It’s small, nippy and easy to park. So I thought I’d struggle to find anything good to say about a diesel Fiesta designed to help the environment – I didn’t think it had a chance of winning me over. So I wasn’t overly thrilled when I was asked to Review the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Being a diesel I had preconceptions of it being noisy and sluggish, but it was quite the opposite. On pulling away and overtaking it was very nippy, and enjoyable to drive round town. Even on longer journeys down a motorway it easily reached speed and sat comfortably, making the ECOnetic a very pleasant drive.

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic has 'Basic' interior

Although the ECOnetic is great to drive, and looks good, visibility when reversing is poor due to the small size of the rear window. And when pulling on to a dual carriageway us girls, who are a bit smaller, find it hard to see past the door pillar when looking over our shoulder – you find yourself leaning right back just to see round it. As for the placement of the electric window buttons, I think Ford forgot women sit closer to the steering wheel, and they are not an easy reach when you’re sitting further forward.

The Ford ECOnectic’s features which make it different from the rest of the Fiesta range can come in handy. It has a feature which tells you when to change gear to drive most economically which, although quite annoying at first as a green arrow keeps flashes up every time you need to change gear, after a while you tend to acknowledge it and do it without any thought – so its doing its job well.

On a whole I think Fiesta ECOnetic is a great all rounder, and if you want to do your bit for the environment this is definitely a good way to go. I do think that it’s a little bit over priced, as the spec of the car is on a par with the more basic models in the range, so you are paying the extra money to have an ‘Eco’ car. However I do think that it’s very nice aesthetically – certainly on the outside. And, much to my surprise, it’s as much fun to drive as my 1.25 Zetec.

All in all the Fiesta is one of the best ‘Eco’ cars I’ve come across. And you don’t have to sacrifice fun to be green.